Icaricia lupini
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Icaricia lupini, the lupine blue, is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Polyommatinae of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from south-western Canada, south through much of mountainous and intermountain western United States and high plains to northern Mexico.
The wingspan ranges from 17–29 mm across various sources. The eggs are laid on or near the flowers of their host plants, which the larvae proceed to eat the fruits, flowers, seeds, and leaves of; despite their common name, their host plants are buckwheat species in the genus Eriogonum, such as Eriogonum umbellatum and Eriogonum fasciculatum. They survive winter by undergoing hibernal diapause in the L2 instar.
Adults feed on the flower nectar of several genera, including their buckwheat hosts, composites, and onions. Across most of its range, there are several generations of adults from March to July. Adults are on wing in one generation from June to August in the Sierra Nevada of eastern California, June to July on the Canadian Prairies, May to August in British Columbia, May to September in Colorado, and from May to August in Washington and Oregon.
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Lupine Blue sighting in Denver on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 384th most-seen of the 461 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Lupine Blue in Denver on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lupine Blue sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Denver, in our data
Denver is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Lupine Blue sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Lupine Blue that you can see in Denver (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Reakirt's Blue (about 10%), Gray Hairstreak (about 10%) and Western Pygmy-Blue (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lupine Blue is recorded against all the insects logged in Denver (6 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
